Exchange Day 78 - Cheapskate no more

Breakfast was a purple sweet potato rice cake that I bought from the station yesterday and a huge banana! I bought the bananas from a truck near the station too and they were really cheap (and delicious) at six for 3,000W. The banana I had was a little tart though, perhaps I should wait a while more before I devour the rest.

I was a sloth the entire morning but I can't help myself. I thought if I refrained from storing food in my room, I would go out more often because I had to eat but I guess I didn't know myself well enough. It's so true how they say that when you go on exchange you learn something new about yourself every day. I always thought that hunger was my achille's heel and I'd brave fire and water to eat, but I guess I was more resilient than I thought.

Thankfully for my tummy, us poor students have to attend classes whether we like it or not, so I headed out although I very much preferred loafing in the warm comforts of my room. I usually eat the same old things around school so that I'll be in time for the free shuttle bus but today, I am a changed woman.

I resisted my cheapskate urges and walked all the way to the subway station in the chills, determined to eat some good food for a change. Since I wasn't familiar with the area, I decided to just go for the first restaurant I saw and that was how I ended up in Outback Steakhouse. Prices at Outback Steakhouse are outrageous for the average Joe and you won't find anything lower than 10,000W (apart from drinks) in the standard menu. It would be cheaper to order a combo to split amongst friends but expect to spend an average of at least 25,000W per person.

However, luckily for single diners, they do have heavily discounted set meals from 12:00 to 17:00 every weekday, which I would say still isn't cheap but was very worth the price. These set meals start from 10,250W and are split into various price ranges to suit customers of all budgets. For each price range, there would be an option of a pasta, salad or steak. Since I was intent on being lavish, I ordered a Carribean Steak Salad for 19,250W, part of the middle-range courses.

(clockwise) Sweet rye bread with butter, Carribean steak salad, strawberry ade and cream of corn soup.

Each set meal entitles the diner to a main course, fruit ade of his choice, bread and butter, a bowl of soup and a cup of Outback Steakhouse's home-brewed coffee. For the health-conscious, the ade can be upgraded to a cup of healthier fruit juice for a small fee of 1,100W. Coffee is served after the meal but I opted out since I didn't like coffee.

The portion of soup was generous and I'm grateful that it was heartier than the effortless Campbell concoction.

I was given a choice between cream of mushroom and cream of corn, and naturally I chose the one that wasn't so common but I'm not sure if these soups are seasonal or kept fixed on the menu.

I was expecting the ade to be a cheap ripoff of a flavoured soft drink but it turned out more like fresh juice with fizz!

It's fun when you get the bread served on a chopping board and you have the liberty to slice your own bread but I didn't like that both the butter and the bread were so sweet they felt sugared.

The highlight of my meal, look at those juicy cubes of steak!

The salad was really flavourful, perhaps a little too much I would say. I like my greens raw and fresh but the ones in the salad were drenched in salad cream and spicy salsa and that was after they had been marinated in olive oil. I felt that this took the whole point out of eating a salad as I might as well have been eating a steak with all the trimmings. The fried crisps added a bit of crunch to the salad, which would have been great had the calorie count not already been skyrocketed by the excessive dressing. The beef cubes singlehandedly salvaged the salad and I have to say I didn't regret my order. They were succulent and not overdone, with an even distribution of meat and tendon. Amazing.

Dinner was at DB Roll, a cafe in the basement level of the Dong-A Bumin campus. I had been wanting to eat their tempura ever since I saw my classmate having it that day and now I finally have my chance! The tempura (튀기) comes in a set of standard 4pc or premium 6pc, and since I wanted hot 오뎅 (oden) as well to warm my freezing self, I took the standard set for 2,000W. The difference between the two sets, other than the quantity, was an absence of tempura prawn, which was only available in the premium set.

(left) Oden and (right) tempura.

Normally I won't order this as I don't like its plain taste but the one here was umami and it helped warm me up!

There's a variety of fried sweet potato, yam, dumpling and kimbab. Too delicious!

The weather's really cold now and I'm starting to miss sunny Singapore so much. I have come to realise that as much as I hate getting a tan, I cannot live without the warm embrace of the Sun, which is probably why I will never be a fair maiden.

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 60 - Fried Chicken Galore

Today's the last day of my exams! (pulls poppers) Although I had one whole day to study for my paper, I spent the entire day fussing over my accommodation and plane tickets for my trip after finals. I couldn't sleep well the previous night because I was still moping about my Scoot ticket in my dreams and I wanted to settle it so I can finally get it off my head. (mom and dad if you're reading this, I had already prepared for my exam in advance so don't worry)

Breakfast was spicy tofu and fried fish nuggets with rice and beef soup with radish and potatoes. The spicy tofu was so-so, I didn't like the sauce as it had a hint of fermented taste but I ate it all nevertheless. The fish nuggets were good, but they were better on their own without the ketchup sauce. I think unless the sauces are specially made for the dish, we should always eat food plain so that we'll get to experience their true taste. Sauces are there to help us ingest bland or disgusting food.

I didn't have lunch because I was still full from breakfast but I did grab a bread from Paris Baguette before setting off for my paper! I love having bread with milk, even better if the milk is low in fat, makes me feel less guilty about drinking it so often. As I was craving something savoury, I got myself a Sausage Foccacia (I think that was what it was), which looked small but was actually quite filling. The bread was soft, fluffy and not too oily, and the cheese tasted perfect with the chicken sausage. I like it when I eat and the sauce gets on the sides of my mouth because it means that I'm really enjoying my food. Weird theory but I'm like that.

I love it when I receive letters from my friends in Singapore. They're like a piece of home and every time I read the letters, it feels as if their authors are sitting right in front of me talking to me. Thanks Eggy and Tams!

The paper was pretty easy and I left early to meet my room-mate in Nampo! We planned to get the album that she really wanted of her favourite singer from the department store and celebrate the end of our exams with a sumptuous dinner. But as her paper ended early, she went ahead with her friends to Nampo to celebrate one of their birthdays so she had some food before we met. I'm happy that she and a friend still felt hungry so they joined me for dinner and we could eat fried chicken at 칠칠!

A cute study planner I saw in the mall but would never buy. How to study properly with the blatant spelling error?!

I had chicken at 칠칠's once before this and I remember that it tasted awesome but I think food always taste the best the first time you try it. For customers who cannot decide on a single flavour, their half-half option allows for two flavours in a single basket and we chose Original and Sweet Chili. Depending on the flavours chosen, each basket of chicken may cost up to 16,000W but is good for two to three people as their servings are humongous.

(left to right) Salted popcorn, coleslaw with thousand island and pickled cucumber! Their side dishes are refillable and my favourite is the cucumber! I don't like salted popcorn and the thousand island is a little too rich.

The chicken comes with fries and wedges too! The fries are so-so but the wedges are really to die for!

After our very satisfying dinner, we walked around the streets of Nampo before heading to our usual haunt to grab breakfast for the next day. I was a good girl and resisted the temptation of getting their bundle box, which was aptly titled "Shocking Bread Box" for its unbelievable low price. I couldn't stop laughing at the name and it amused me so much I had to buy myself a Royal Pudding to calm myself down. I haven't had the chance to try the one back home but seeing that this was much cheaper, albeit a little smaller, I just had to get it.

And shocked me it did.

It turned out much better than I had expected it to be. I thought the pudding would be cloyingly sweet but the caramel tasted a bit burnt, which mediated its sweetness and complemented the smooth egg pudding. I don't normally eat pudding, but I'll definitely go back again for this!

My kooky friends fooling around with the trick-eye painting in the mall! I think I have to start working out in the gym again. All these fried food is killing me!

xoxo, ❀